Property Manager Training

Most employers prefer to hire college graduates for property management
positions. Entrants with degrees in business administration, accounting,
finance, real estate, public administration, or related fields are
preferred, but those with degrees in the liberal arts also may qualify. Good
speaking, writing, computer, and financial skills, as well as an ability to
deal tactfully with people, are essential in all areas of property
management.

Many people enter property management as onsite managers of
apartment buildings, office complexes, or community associations or as
employees of property management firms or community association management
companies. As they acquire experience working under the direction of a
property manager, they may advance to positions greater responsibility at
larger properties. Those who excel as onsite managers often transfer to
assistant property manager positions, in which they can acquire experience
handling a broad range of property management responsibilities.

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Previous employment as a real estate sales agent may be an asset to
onsite managers because it provides experience that is useful in showing
apartments or office space. In the past, those with backgrounds in building
maintenance have advanced to onsite manager positions on the strength of
their knowledge of building mechanical systems, but this path is becoming
less common as employers place greater emphasis on administrative,
financial, and communication abilities for managerial jobs.

Although many people entering jobs such as assistant property manager do
so by having previously gained onsite management experience, employers
increasingly are hiring inexperienced college graduates with bachelor’s or
master’s degrees in business administration, accounting, finance, or real
estate for these positions. Assistants work closely with a property manager
and learn how to prepare budgets, analyze insurance coverage and risk
options, market property to prospective tenants, and collect overdue rent
payments. In time, many assistants advance to property manager positions.

The responsibilities and compensation of property, real estate, and
community association managers increase as these workers manage more and
larger properties. Most property managers, often called portfolio managers,
are responsible for several properties at a time. As their careers advance,
they gradually are entrusted with larger properties that are more complex to
manage. Many specialize in the management of one type of property, such as
apartments, office buildings, condominiums, cooperatives, homeowners’
associations, or retail properties. Managers who excel at marketing
properties to tenants might specialize in managing new properties, while
those who are particularly knowledgeable about buildings and their
mechanical systems might specialize in the management of older properties
requiring renovation or more frequent repairs. Some experienced managers
open their own property management firms.

Persons most commonly enter real estate asset manager jobs by
transferring from positions as property managers or real estate brokers.
Real estate asset managers must be good negotiators, adept at persuading and
handling people, and good at analyzing data in order to assess the
fair-market value of property or its development potential. Resourcefulness
and creativity in arranging financing are essential for managers who
specialize in land development.

Many employers encourage attendance at short-term formal training
programs conducted by various professional and trade associations that are
active in the real estate field. Employers send managers to these programs
to improve their management skills and expand their knowledge of specialized
subjects, such as the operation and maintenance of building mechanical
systems, the enhancement of property values, insurance and risk management,
personnel management, business and real estate law, community association
risks and liabilities, tenant relations, communications, accounting and
financial concepts, and reserve funding. Managers also participate in these
programs to prepare themselves for positions of greater responsibility in
property management. The completion of these programs, related job
experience, and a satisfactory score on a written examination leads to
certification, or the formal award of a professional designation, by the
sponsoring association. (Some organizations offering such programs are
listed as sources of additional information at the end of this statement.)
In addition to seeking these qualifications, some associations require their
members to adhere to a specific code of ethics. In a few States, community
association managers must be licensed.

Managers of public housing subsidized by the Federal Government are
required to be certified, but many property, real estate, and community
association managers who work with all types of property choose to earn a
professional designation voluntarily, because it represents formal
recognition of their achievements and status in the occupation. Real estate
asset managers who buy or sell property are required to be licensed by the
State in which they practice.